Pandan Chiffon Cake

A cotton-like pandan chiffon cake is so comforting and easy to make. Using coconut milk and pandan extract, this recipe is my absolute bias.

I've been quite curious about pandan chiffon cake for a while. I've tasted a few of them, including the famous Bangawan Solo from Singapore. I’m not questioning its flavour. …. Instead, I wonder why some Asians rave about it so much, elevating it to mythic status or a challenging baking feat, so much so that if you get it right, you're considered far from an ordinary baker.

Recently, I found a great step-by-step recipe online that shows us how to bake pandan chiffon cake perfectly. All you have to do is find the right kind of pandan leaves because other ingredients are relatively easy to find. Please note that you must extract the essence of the pandan at least 10-12 hours before baking the cake.

Have fun and good luck.

This time, I strictly followed the original recipe. The sweetness level of this cake is approximately 4 out of 10. If you like it sweeter, you may consider serving it with ice cream or white chocolate. We found a little tub of Japanese ice cream in the local supermarket and it paired up deliciously.

Prep Time

30 minutes mins

Cook Time

45 minutes mins

Servings: 1 x 22cm or 9″ chiffon cake

Ingredients

Egg Yolk Batter

6 large egg yolks at room temperature

80 g castor / granulated sugar

60 ml neutral flavoured oil (i.e. vegetable/canola oil)

100 ml coconut milk

60 ml pandan juice + extract

¼ tsp salt

150 g superfine cake flour refer to notes for substitutes

1 tsp baking powder can be omitted

Egg White Meringue

6 large egg whites

½ tsp cream of tartar

60 g castor / granulated sugar at room temperature

Instructions

Preheat oven to 170°C. Sift flour and baking powder, set aside.

Separate your eggs, placing the whites in one clean and dry large bowl and the yolks in another clean bowl.

Pandan Juice & Extract Mixture

Start by making your natural pandan juice + extract at least one day in advance, following the steps HERE. You may opt to use 60ml of the pandan juice straight away, but I would suggest letting it sit overnight to allow the chlorophyll to sink to the bottom like shown in the image below.

You will find the juice segregated into two layers the following day. Pour out the less concentrated juice into a clean bowl until you are left with the thick green layer at the very bottom as shown in image below.

You should have approximately 27-30g of thick concentrated pandan extract. Add the less concentrated pandan juice from (2) to make up to a total of 60ml of pandan juice + extract. Stir the pandan mixture into the coconut milk, and set aside.

Egg Yolk Batter

Using either a whisk to beat manually by hand, or flat beater on your stand mixer, combine egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat until mixture becomes light and colour turns pale.

Add oil, stir to lightly combine. Then add the pandan and coconut mixture. Whisk until well combined. If using an electronic mixer, use the slowest speed setting.

Add salt, followed by flour gradually in 4-5 folds, and mix until batter is well incorporated without any lumps. Set aside.

Egg White Meringue

Using a stand mixer with balloon whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium low speed until foamy then add in cream of tartar.

When the mixture starts to get bubbly, add half portion of sugar and beat on high speed for 2-3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-high then add remaining sugar gradually and beat until egg whites are glossy, with stiff peaks. When you lift your whisk, your egg white meringue would stand straight up with the tip slightly bent over. Also be sure to check the bottom of the bowl to ensure that there is no liquidy mixture – this is considered under-beating. Note that under-beating or over-beating the meringue mixture would cause the cake to either not rise, or it would rise and collapse.

Fold In using a spatula, add ⅓ of meringue into egg yolk mixture and fold in lightly. You'd want to be as gentle as you can so as to ensure you do not deflate the egg whites too much.

Add in another ⅓ of the meringue and fold – again, remember to be gentle. This is to ensure you'd achieve a fluffy cake.

Finally add the remaining meringue and fold to incorporate completely. If your meringue is not completely homogenous with your egg yolk mixture, when the cake is baked, you would find white streaks.

Pour batter into a 22cm/9" chiffon cake tube pan. The best chiffon cake pan to use is the aluminium pan with removable base. The non-stick ones are not suitable and DO NOT grease your chiffon cake pan.

Knock the cake pan lightly on the tabletop to remove air pockets. If you skip this step, you may find holes within your cake after baking.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. When cake is done, remove from oven and invert it on a wire rack, leaving it to cool. Please make sure the cake is left upside down until completely cool or the cake will collapse.

Once cake has cooled completely, gently press onto the sides of the cake to loosen it up. Refer to my how-to video HERE to see how I do it. Alternatively, you may carefully run a palette knife or spatula around the sides of the cake to loosen it up before inverting onto a cake board or serving plate. The base of your cake, would be the top.

Slice cake to your desired serving size, and enjoy.

Notes

HOMEMADE PANDAN JUICE/EXTRACT SUBSTITUTE

If you do not have access to fresh pandan leaves and unable to make your own pandan juice, then you may substitute the 100ml of coconut milk + 60ml of pandan juice + extract with 150ml coconut milk mixed with 1.5 tsp of store bought pandan extract. I recommend Koepoe-Koepoe brand.

FLOUR SUBSTITUTE

If you do not have superfine cake flour, you may substitute with 122g plain flour & 33g corn flour. Sift the combination three times. On the last round, sift with baking powder.

Alternatively, you may also wish to substitute superfine cake flour with high ratio flour – this flour type is suitable for chiffon cake in particular as it is able to hold a large amount of liquid and produces a very soft crumb with a light, and fine texture.

MAKE A SMALLER 7″ CAKE

You may wish to halve the recipe to make a 17cm or 7″ chiffon cake pan. You will also need to reduce baking duration to 30 minutes at the same temperature.

This recipe is suitable to make 2 x 7" chiffon cakes - you may distribute the batter evenly into two tube pans.

HOW TO STORE CAKE?

The cake can be stored at room temperature in an air-tight container. You could also refrigerate the cake and just return it to room temperature prior to serving.

HOW LONG DOES THE CAKE LAST?

Optimally, they taste best on the first day. The cake is best consumed within 2-3 days if kept at room temperature, or 4-5 days if refrigerated.

Recipe from Bakeanista, https://thebakeanista.com/pandan-chiffon-cake/